1 half
gallon Whole Milk (I have not tried Skim or 2%)
1 container
plain yogurt with active cultures (such as Fage. I have used both Wegmans and
Trader Joe’s store brand plain greek with luck)
1 can
sweetened condensed milk
1)
Pour the milk into the instant pot and hit the
yogurt button twice until it says boil. I use my food thermometer in the pot as
well, set to 183 degrees. Whisk occasionally as it comes to temperature to
avoid hot spots. Get the milk to 183-185 degrees.
2)
Create a water bath (I use my sink and add a bit
of ice to the water) and once the milk hits the 183 take the cooking pot out of
the instant pot and put it in the water bath. Stir in the sweetened condensed
milk. Cool the milk mixture to 108-110 degrees. (Whisking and using the food
thermometer). (Hit the cancel button on the instant pot)
3)
Add in two tablespoons of the plain yogurt and
stir.
4)
Wipe the water off the outside of the cooking
pot and put it back in the instant pot. Hit the yogurt button once. It should
come up reading 8 hours. I add an hour to get to 9 hours. Put a lid on the pot.
I use one of the lids to my pots and pans, you are not bringing it to pressure,
so you don’t need the seal.
5)
The pot will start counting up to 9 hours. You
can leave it overnight, even if it is going to be more than 9 hours.
6)
Once it is done incubating, put the pot in the
refrigerator to cool (I just leave the lid on and put it in). Leave it at least
2 hours.
7)
Straining is the next step. I used birds eye
cotton in a regular strainer, but you can use coffee filters, cheesecloth,
anything like that in a strainer (they even make specific yogurt strainers for
a bit under $20). Pour the yogurt into the strainer and let the whey strain out
until it comes to your favorite consistency. I like about 8 hours so far.
8)
Whisk the strained yogurt to make it smooth.
(You can add whey back in if it is too thick for your taste.)
Tada, really
delicious yogurt. The kids and I love it. I even used it as topping on a
cheesecake.
Tips: You
have to use freshly opened yogurt as the starter, but they say you can freeze
it in tablespoon sizes and thaw it for the next batch. I tried this with the
latest batch, I’ll let you know if it works.
Don’t use
more than two tablespoons of starter, it won’t set.
You can set
for more than 9 hours, or just leave it at 8 hours. The longer it goes, the
tarter it gets.
The whey is
good in bread, pancakes, smoothies. We have done all three and liked it!
There are
two common problems if it doesn’t set. 1) Hitting another button and turning it
to “less” during the yogurt function. It should read “normal” 2) The cultures
in the store bought yogurt were dead. Both fixable by starting over at step 4
and for problem 2, getting new culture.
